Skip to main content

How long is the Amazon return window for the Holidays 2021 shopping season?

It’s here. The early Black Friday deals have officially kicked off, which means it’s the perfect opportunity to grab everything you need or want at an amazing price, and beat the holiday rush! With supply chain issues, shipping delays, and low inventory just about everywhere, there’s no telling what kind of problems you might run into this year. So, shopping early really is a great idea. But typically, when you shop early like this, you may or may not run into issues with items when you need a refund, or when you need to return something. Buying earlier also means the return window is shorter, especially if you’re gifting something for the holidays. Thanks to Amazon, this year there’s no need to worry about that. They’ve extended the return window to January 2022 for all items purchased during the holiday shopping season.

In short, that means you have a longer period to return items if you’re not satisfied with your purchase. However, it also means you can return items you’ve purchased early if and when they go on sale later, essentially allowing you to get a refund for the price difference. If you buy something, then see the price drop even lower later, you can still get the best deal. There are virtually no risks to buying early anymore, which is awesome. Buy a shirt and it doesn’t fit? You can return it until January 2022. Grab a new TV or smart home device and then see it go on sale, even cheaper? No problem, just return the item and rebuy to recuperate the price difference.

Should you shop the Amazon Black Friday deals now or wait until November 26?

Denis Charlet/Getty Images / Denis Charlet/Getty Images

Traditionally, Black Friday has always been the day after Thanksgiving. Then a few days later, Cyber Monday hits. In previous years, retailers have opened up that entire week to Black Friday and holiday sales. Even with those early events, the big-ticket items have always been relegated to that window. Now, the Amazon Black Friday deals have started earlier than ever, with other retailers following suit, such as Walmart and Best Buy. These deals are great, but it makes one wonder if you should be shopping this early? Will there be bigger and better deals later?

The short answer is no, probably not. We recommend taking advantage of these early deals and getting as much shopping done now, as you can. There are a few reasons for this, not the least of which is that there are some pretty amazing deals available right now, so what’s the sense in waiting? If you’re worried about better prices dropping later, Amazon’s longer return window and Best Buy’s Price Match Guarantee mean you can still take advantage of those better deals if they do come. You’ll always get the best deal available, period.

More importantly, we don’t really know what’s going to happen this year the closer we get to the holidays. There are supply chain issues, shipping delays, materials shortages, low inventory, and many items — especially electronics — are in high demand. There’s a good chance that any items you are eyeing or planning to buy end up unavailable, because of low stock. What’s more, if you wait too long to purchase what you want, they may not arrive on time or close to the holidays. That’s not such a big deal if you’re buying for yourself, but if you’re buying a gift — let’s just say no one likes to show up to a holiday gathering empty-handed!

Knowing you have until January 2022 to return items you purchase at Amazon during the holidays gives you some peace of mind. They’re not the only retailer doing this, so you’re free to shop these early deals and steals without some of the big worries you might otherwise have.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Briley Kenney
Briley has been writing about consumer electronics and technology for over a decade. When he's not writing about deals for…
Does Amazon do Black Friday deals? Everything you need to know
Laptop on Amazon surrounded by boxes of tech gear.

With retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, and many others dropping their Black Friday deals this week or earlier, it begs the question, what about Amazon? Whether you've been paying attention or not, there have been some pretty amazing Amazon Black Friday deals across a host of categories. From computers and video games to toys and apparel, there's sure to be something on sale for everyone. Since many of those deals are already live, and you can shop them now, you can always start browsing on your own. Alternatively, you can keep reading to learn more about Amazon's Black Friday festivities and what that means for you!

Amazon does do Black Friday deals
As we've firmly established, Amazon does indeed celebrate Black Friday, offering some of the best Black Friday deals out there on on TVs, smart home tech, apparel, and much more. In fact, like many retailers, Amazon has been offering Black Friday deals super early this year -- many have been live for some time now. You can start shopping right now, if you haven't been already, which we recommend doing! Inventory is low this year for a lot of items -- we'll dig more into why below -- so if you find something you're interested in or really want, you should take ful ladvantage of any discounts! There's no telling when that hot item is going to be sold out, or when the deal will be unavailable!
You need to shop the Amazon Black Friday deals now
The microchip shortage has caused quite a ruckus in the consumer electronics market and beyond. We're seeing manufacturing delays, shipment delays, and many more problems on top of additional supply chain issues. The result is that inventory is really low for certain items, and when they go out of stock, there's no telling when it will be available again. Black Friday deals also dropped earlier than ever this year, and things have been selling out quickly! Now's the perfect time to get great prices on whatever you've been looking for, and if you find items in stock, you'll want to jump on the opportunity!

Read more
Best Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals 2021: Sales you can shop today
Black Friday Nintendo Switch Deals 2021

Whether you already own Nintendo's latest gaming device or you're planning to finally buy it, you're smart for waiting until this week for Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals. It's holding its own against its rivals, the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X|S, and it's very likely that the best Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals will draw even more attention to the hybrid console, especially with the recent release of the Nintendo Switch OLED.

If you're excited about the best Black Friday deals for gaming, the good news is that you don't have to wait for the shopping holiday before you start enjoying significant discounts on consoles, games, and accessories. Retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart have already rolled out early Black Friday deals, so you might want to check out what they have for the Nintendo Switch. If you see offers that you like, you shouldn't hesitate to take advantage of them or else you might miss out.
Retailers with Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals

Read more
The best White Elephant gifts you can shop at Walmart for under $50
Swapping White Elephant gifts at holiday party.

Those looking to inject a little fun into their usual holiday routine often play a game of White Elephant with friends or family. Also called a White Elephant Gift Exchange, it's a simple game where each player contributes a gift to a common pool and everyone takes turns opening them. Players draw numbers to determine what order they'll get to choose a gift. The first player picks a gift, and the rest follow, but the twist is that anyone can "steal" a gift from others.

It's a lot of fun to play, but it also means you'll have to bring an interesting gift to the event, and hopefully, everyone else does too! It begs the question, what kind of gifts are perfect for a game of White Elephant? Everything from funny to quirky and weird works! But to make things a little easier, we put together this list of the best White Elephants gifts, all of which you can shop at your local Walmart. Don't forget, there are plenty of Walmart Black Friday deals to shop too, many of which would make for a great game of White Elephant!

Read more